OCILLA — A former Miss Tifton who now teaches at Irwin High School is missing, police and school officials said Tuesday.

Tara Faye Grinstead, 30, of Ocilla was last seen around 11 p.m. Saturday after the Miss Sweet Potato pageant. Grinstead, Miss Tifton 1999, helped with hair and makeup for the pageant.

“We’re canvassing the county looking for her,” Irwin County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Billy Hancock said. “The only things missing from her house are her purse and keys, but her car is sitting out front.”

Because of the ongoing investigation, Hancock wouldn’t go into much detail, saying only that there were a few things that caught the investigators’ attention and that the GBI is assisting in the investigation.

Police were notified after Grinstead failed to show up for work Monday at the Irwin County High School. Friends say Grinstead, a ninth-grade history teacher and administrator, would never duck out of school without telling someone.

“She is just an exemplary teacher,” Suzanne Connor, wife of Principal Robby Connor and a close personal friend, said. “She lives for her students. I hope this community will rally behind her and help us to find her.”

Connor said that counselors had spoken with her students and were available to help.

Monday night Connor and other teachers distributed 2,000 flyers throughout the county in an effort to alert the community about their missing friend.

“Teachers for Tara” were also planning a prayer vigil for Grinstead Tuesday night at the Irwin County Courthouse.

Grinstead is described as a white female with brown hair and brown eyes. She stands about 5’3” tall and weighs about 125 pounds. Anyone with any information about her whereabouts is urged to call the Ocilla Police Department at 468-7494 or call their tip line at 468-TIPS (8477).